Q. Why does your book concentrate on Laurence’s
early career?
A. There are few biographies of Canadian writers that treat the
subject’s early years. In the case of Margaret Laurence, I discovered a
good deal of material that was either ignored by previous biographers or
unknown to them. I felt this information about her early career was
significant, and would add to an understanding of the difficulties she
faced on the road to becoming a successful author.
Q. Why are there so many endnotes?
A. It is quite possible to read the book without looking at the
endnotes. I included them for two reasons: (1) I did not want to clutter
the story with too much information.
(2) I did want readers, if they wished, to be able to see the basis for
my conclusions and to reference my information for themselves. It is not
at all unusual for biographers to include many endnotes.
Q. What did you find challenging in writing
Margaret Laurence: the Making of a Writer?
A. I t was a challenge to decide on the book’s structure.
Q. I thought the information about Professor Ofosu
- Appiah was very interesting.
Was it difficult to track him down?
A. Yes. There were many false leads before I finally located his family.
He played a very important role in Margaret Laurence’s understanding of
the Gold Coast a that period of time.
Q. You interviewed a lot of people. Can you say
something about what that was like?
A. It was very exciting to talk to people who had known Margaret
Laurence over a period of time and in a variety of places, for example:
in her hometown, at college, in England, in Africa, and in Vancouver.
Sadly, some of these people died before my book was published and I did
not have the opportunity to send them a copy of it.
